Samsung’s Galaxy Home still exists and is at CES 2019

Samsung’s CES 2019 booth is pretty standard fare for the most part. It’s full of massive TVs, countless accessories and of course, the South Korean tech giant’s Galaxy S9 and Note 9 smartphones.

One device caught my attention though — the elusive Galaxy Home smart speaker.

Even though Samsung first revealed its Bixby-powered Galaxy Home a number of months ago, the smart speaker still doesn’t have a release date. Further, it’s unclear how much the Home is set to cost or even if it will make its way to Canada.

While I’ve encountered the Galaxy Home at Samsung events in the past, this is the first time I’ve seen it in action. The device was guarded closely by a Samsung rep who was the only person able to interact with it. I watched as the rep gave the speaker different commands like playing a specific song via Spotify and asked various questions. What was most impressive about the Home was its ability to hear the rep in the crowded, extremely noisy Samsung CES booth.

The speaker looks unique when compared to the Google Home or Amazon’s various Alexa devices thanks to its four legs and pear-like shape. That said, it remains unclear if Bixby is a capable smart home assistant. Given how lacklustre Bixby is with Samsung’s various smartphones, the odds aren’t exactly in the Galaxy Home’s favour in this respect.

With Google Assistant and Alexa-powered speakers already firmly taking hold of the smart speaker market, it feels like Samsung is really late to the game at this point.